The government will deploy some 9,000 police and troops to ensure security for the world's Islamic leaders attending a summit here next week, an official said today.

They have been specially trained "to face any form of threat" during the summit of the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), internal security deputy director Arthur Edmonds told the Bernama news agency.

Terrorism is expected to be high on the agenda at the Oct 16-18 summit, the first since relations between the Islamic world and the West were shaken by the Sept 11 2001 attacks on the United States.

A total of 30 heads of state have confirmed their attendance at the summit, according to Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar.

The remaining countries would be represented by their foreign ministers at the talks in Malaysia's new government capital of Putrajaya, south of Kuala Lumpur.

Iraq, which finally received the nod to attend after Malaysia initially opposed its participation on the grounds that the country was under US occupation, will be represented by its Governing Council chief.

War-shattered Afghanistan has also said it will be attending after missing the last two meetings in Tehran (1997) and Doha (2000).

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Philippine President Gloria Arroyo will attend as observers, while the United Nations will be represented by Secretary-General Kofi Annan. - AFP